It is possible to identify three different temperature regions having a distinct resistivity behaviour in both samples as shown in Fig.9(a-c) for SIO-as prep sample and in Fig.9(d-f)in SIO-anneal sample. In the paramagnetic phase of both the samples, resistivity can be modeled by Arrhenius equation given by \(\rho =\rho _0\ \exp (E_a/k_B T)\) , where \(E_a\)  is the activation energy, \(k_B\)  is Boltzmann constant and \(\rho _0\)  is a constant. In Arrhenius hopping model, the charge carriers undergo thermal excitations of charge carriers from localized state to the extended states. A plot of \(ln\rho \)  vs 1/T is shown in Fig.9(a) and Fig.9(d) for SIO-as prep and SIO-anneal samples respectively, which are straight lines in the temperature range of 300K to \(\sim \) 253K. The activation energy obtained from the fitting are 107 meV and 130 meV for SIO-as prep and SIO-anneal samples, respectively. These values are closer to the reported values for single crystal samples[1]} and also to those obtained from optical absorption measurements.[2]}
